Looking to both secure new territory and severely limited the Afghan government’s ability to project power out of the city of Kabul, the Taliban has carried out a series of attacks along the main highway, between Kabul and Kandahar.

Taliban forces attacked security forces in Wardak Province, cutting power lines in the area and forcing traffic to be closed outright. In nearby Ghazni, the attacks were a lot more serious, with heavily armed Taliban storming into the provincial capital in force.

While Afghan officials downplayed the risk of Ghazni falling outright, as it did earlier this year, that appears not to be the point of this offensive. Instead, the Taliban seems keen to disable the southern half of Afghanistan’s Highway 1, and is well on its way to doing so.

Yes, we were “postwar” in 2003. It symbolizes a united country under the US-installed government, and allowed the US and its proxy forces to deliver ground troops and tanks far and wide quickly. But not anymore.